The US Presidential election was a disaster for the religious right, which had again tied its faith to the partisan political agenda of the Republican Party, says Jim Wallis, CEO of the progressive evangelical Sojourners magazine and movement. Research into shifting populations and voting patterns shows why the religious right’s leaders will no longer be able to control or easily co-opt the meaning of the term “evangelical,” he argues. There is a new, diverse coalition for a new America emerging, and a changing evangelical demographic is a central part of that.

“To go into the voting booth and vote for either Wall-Street-backed candidate, that is the definition of throwing away your vote.” So claims Jill Stein, the US Green Party’s candidate for the presidential election on 6 November 2012.

Most people in America, whether they are religious or not, prefer consistency in the faith community to hypocrisy, says Jim Wallis. One of the reasons the fastest growing demographic in religious affiliation surveys is now “none of the above” is that too many people see more religious hypocrisy than consistency. In this reflection, the CEO of of Sojourners in the USA argues that evangelicals, in particular, are apt to get their values in a muddle in the political arena, not least by ignoring or sidelining the huge biblical emphasis on concern for the poor and vulnerable as a criterion for looking at the impact of human endeavour.

US presidential candidates Barack Obama and Mitt Romney tackled some important issues - including jobs, immigration, energy, and pay equity for women - in their recent TV debate. But they missed a whole lot more, says the progressive evangelical 'Sojourners' magazine and movement.